Book Exchange
by RockSunner
Summary: What if Dipper had found Journal 2 after the fall in Gideon Rises, instead of Journal 3? (The latest chapter has been revised and spoilers for NWHS and AToTS).
1. Exchange

What if Dipper had found Journal 2 after the fall in Gideon Rises, instead of Journal 3? All characters belong to Alex Hirsch and Disney, not me.

**Book Exchange**

Gideon took a hard fall when the Gideon-bot plunged from the tracks. He had some protection, because his black motion-capture suit was equipped with an airbag. It popped around him as the bot hit the ground.

That shock dislodged one of the two Journals he had stuffed into his jacket pockets earlier, the one on his right side. (Gideon had stuffed the Journals into his pockets in a rush. It was a fifty-fifty chance which one ended up on the right side and which on the left). The journal flew out the broken glass eye of the robot and landed on the ground a short distance from the crash. A piece of metal from the wreckage landed on top of it, protecting it from the huge explosion that followed. Gideon, inside the metal shell, was also shielded.

Mabel descended, one arm around Dipper's waist and the other holding tightly to her grappling hook gun.

"Grappling hook!" Mabel shouted. "I told you it would come in handy!"

"Mabel, that was amazing!" said Dipper.

"Not as amazing as you defeating that robot," said Mabel, giving Dipper a playful punch.

Dipper spotted a book lying face-down on the ground. "Hey, my Journal."

He picked up Journal 2 and stuffed it under his jacket.

* * *

When Gideon woke, things at first seemed to be going his way.

The Deputy ran up to him, very concerned. "Gideon! Oh, good heavens! What on earth happened here?"

Gideon said, "It was the Pines twins! They tried to attack me and blow up mah statue with dynamite! Arrest 'em!"

"What?" Dipper said, "Officers, he's lying!"

Sheriff Blubs said, "Sorry kids, but we trust Gideon. And nothing short of a miracle would ever change our- "

Stan came racing up in his El Diablo. "Wait! Wait! Stop everything! I've got somethin' to say!"

Blubs said, "Not this guy again."

"Just wait!" said Stan. "Look! You guys all think Gideon is so perfect and honest. 'Oh! I could never tell a lie! I'm Gideon!'"

Blubs said, "He's more honest than you!"

Durland said, "Yeah! And he's psychic too!"

"How's this for psychic?" said Stan. "Bam! Take a good look!"

Stan kicked open a panel. The lower floor of the bot below the driver's room was full of televisions looping videos, each showing the people of Gravity Falls.

"Wait a minute, is that ME?" said Lazy Susan.

"The secret ingredient to my coffee omelet is coffee!" said her TV image.

Toby Determined said, "And me!"

"I can verify that that birth mark is indeed disgusting," said the image of the Doctor.

"Hooray!" said Toby.

The crowd moved in and each saw themselves. "That's me! That's me!"

Stan said, "That's right, these pins are hidden cameras! And my hearing aid was picking up the feedback! Who's the fraud now?"

The people threw down their pins, which cracked open to reveal hidden cameras in the eye that wasn't winking.

The crowd turned on Gideon, who giggled nervously.

Durland said, "Gideon, we gave you our trust.."

Manley Dan said, "You LIED to us!"

"Please, I... It's not what it looks like... What are you gonna do with me?" said Gideon.

"Tyler?" asked the Deputy.

"Get 'im.. Get 'im!" said Tyler, wiping away a tear.

Blubs said, "Lil' Gideon, you are under arrest for conspiracy, fraud, and breaking our hearts. Durland? The tiny handcuffs."

Gideon found himself handcuffed and marched toward the back of the police car.

"No!" he said.

"Just one more thing," said Stan.

Stan grabbed Gideon and shook him, causing all the objects in his pockets to fall out: keys, candy, a picture of Mabel, an axe, the deed to the Mystery Shack, and Journal 3. Stan picked up the last two items as one.

"I believe this belongs to me," said Stan, showing the deed to the gathered reporters.

Gideon was driven away to jail, raving about his hair, how they needed him, and how he would be back.

* * *

When Dipper got back to their attic room he took out the Journal. "Hey, this is a different one! Journal 2."

"What?" said Mabel. "Get out of here!"

"A whole new set of clues!" said Dipper, eagerly riffling through the pages. "On first glance, I would say the Author was less paranoid when he wrote this. There are a lot less warnings."

"Good, right?" said Mabel.

"Maybe, but maybe more dangerous," said Dipper. "I wish I still had the other to compare against. I'll have to go from memory."

He kept looking. "More attack spells in this book. Blood rain, demon caterpillars..."

"Oooh! I love caterpillars!" said Mabel.

"...How to start a zombie attack, how to make an amulet like Gideon's..." said Dipper.

"I don't know about that, but it could be good protection," said Mabel.

"A picture of that dream demon, Bill Cipher... with a wheel around him. But... this is insane!" said Dipper.

Like another writer had done before him with the Glasses, he added exclamation marks and arrows pointing to the Question Mark, the Fish Symbol, the Stitched Heart, the Six-Fingered Hand, the All-Seeing Eye, the Shooting Star, and the Pine Tree.


	2. Trust Stan?

**Trust Stan?**

When they weren't working to put the Mystery Shack back together after Gideon's hostile take-over, Dipper spent every spare moment studying the new Journal, mostly at night with a flashlight.

Mabel called over to him, "Hey, Dipping-sauce, don't you think it's about time we told Grunkle Stan about the Journals? After all, he saved us from going to jail."

"That's true," said Dipper. "And in this town kids are sent to adult prison. Look at what happened to Gideon – he's in the big house at age ten."

"So let's tell Grunkle Stan tomorrow," said Mabel. "We shouldn't keep secrets from him. Not big secrets, anyway. Little ones, like the secret ingredient of Mabel juice... that's okay."

"You have a point," said Dipper. "But here's a counterfactual: look at this journal page."

"Possible Hiding Places," Mabel read. "So?"

"Look at the building on the map," said Dipper. "It's the Mystery Shack."

"No it isn't," said Mabel. "There's no gift-shop wingy thing."

"That was an add-on," said Dipper. "Remember when we went back in time and saw the building in winter? The wing wasn't there yet."

"Okay, but it still might be some other building," said Mabel.

"The layout of the roads, the woods, everything... it has to be here," said Dipper, "Hey! This explains why Gideon wanted the Mystery Shack so much. It wasn't just to get an amusement park location or to ruin Stan. He wanted to search around here for hidden things, probably the other Journals."

"He already had two of them," said Mabel.

"Not when he blew up the safe, he didn't," said Dipper. "He only had this one, and he must have been looking for the other two."

"It makes sense, I guess," said Mabel. "What does this have to do with Grunkle Stan?"

"Grunkle Stan has owned this property for years. The Author wouldn't put all the secret hiding places close to the Shack unless he was working with Stan, or... if Stan himself was the Author! He could be!"

"Grunkle Stan isn't that good an artist," said Mabel. "Those illustrations are fantastic, and I know art."

"He's a good artist when he wants to be," said Dipper. "He did the best Benjamin Franklin pictures of any of us."

"You can't accuse him without proof," said Mabel. "It still may be some other building."

"I want to go around tomorrow to the hiding places marked on the map to look for signs of recent digging," said Dipper. "If my theory is correct, then Gideon would try to dig them up while he was in control of the property."

* * *

Sure enough, every single place marked on the map as a hiding place had been dug up, and many trees showed signs of the search for a hidden panel.

"I stumbled into one of these monitors hidden in a fake tree, one that was just like this page shows," said Dipper. "Security monitor/locator. System number three, patent pending."

"Is Grunkle Stan that much of an inventor?" asked Mabel.

"I don't know," said Dipper. "I think he's keeping a lot of secrets from us. We need to do some monitoring of our own and get evidence."

"What, are we going to stay awake in shifts and watch Grunkle Stan 24/7?" asked Mabel.

"There's something simple we can try first," said Dipper. "Some nights, when I wake up in the middle of the night, I hear someone moving around in the Gift Shop. We could secretly turn the security cameras in there on at night and see what we can find out."


	3. Secret of the Vending Machine

**Secret of the Vending Machine**

That evening, when they were shutting down the gift shop for the day, Dipper left the security cameras turned on.

"I'm not sure this is going to work," Dipper said. "There's a light on when these things are running. He'll see it and know they're going."

"Every problem can be solved with stickers," said Mabel. She jumped up and stuck a heart sticker on the light of the first camera, that had a view of the front of the gift shop. "Boop!" Then she did the same to the camera with a view of the back of the gift shop. "Boop!"

They had a restless night. Dipper stayed awake for a long while, trying to listen, but he eventually fell asleep.

Early in the morning, before Stan was awake, Dipper and Mabel rushed into the shop and played the tape. (They also also removed the stickers.) They got a shock. Grunkle Stan came into the gift shop, pressed buttons on the vending machine in a certain pattern, and opened a secret passage. Then he disappeared inside.

"Wow! Like, what was that?" said Mabel.

"We're going to find out," said Dipper.

* * *

At breakfast, Dipper said. "Grunkle Stan, why didn't you tell us about the secret passage behind the Gift Shop vending machine?"

Stan did a spit-take with his coffee. "Huh? What are you talkin' about? A secret passage? I don't know nothin' about it."

"We have photographic evidence of you going in," said Dipper.

"Yeah! They don't call us the Mystery Twins for nothing," said Mabel. "You have a right to remain impressed with our great detective work."

"I have a right to remain angry that you were spying on me!" said Stan. "That's my private basement. Off limits."

"To think we were about to trust you and show you the Journal!" said Mabel.

"Huh?" said Stan. "What's this about a journal?"

"We wanted to know if we could trust you with something big," said Dipper. "Looks like we can't. We've got it well hidden, and it will stay that way until you show us what's down there and tell us the truth."

Stan looked frustrated. "All right, I'll show you, but you have to keep your hands off of things down there. It's dangerous."

"Dangerous is our middle name," said Dipper.

"It's not, but we're still super interested," said Mabel.

Stan got up from the table. "All right, come on."

He led the way to the vending machine and entered the code. They walked down a flight of stairs, to an elevator door. Stan entered a four-symbol code and the elevator opened. They went down to the third level.

In the room was a computer control panel and a huge device on the side of the room that looked like a downward-pointing triangle. The device was powered off.

"Grunkle Stan, what is this? And what are you doing with it?" asked Dipper.

"It's a Portal to other dimensions. I'm trying to get it started again so I can find my lost twin brother, who disappeared through it thirty years. ago," said Stanford.

Dipper and Mabel looked suspicious.

"Grunkle Stan, I think our parents would have told us about a lost great uncle if we had one," said Dipper.

"And Grandpa Ralph Pines isn't missing," said Mabel. "He lives in Florida with Grandma Josephine. Our parents didn't want us all the way across the country, or we would have gone there."

"It seems weird that our folks would send us to a place where a major relative disappeared without saying anything about it," said Dipper.

"There's a Pines brother they don't like to talk about. Stanley Pines, the black sheep of the family. Your parents didn't think it was odd that a shady character like that would take off one night from his brother's house for parts unknown, and that they haven't heard from him since. But that's not what really happened."

"Stanley Pines is even shadier than you? That's really something," said Dipper.

"No, that's not it," said Stan. "I'm Stanley Pines. It was Stanford Pines who disappeared thirty years ago. When your parents sent you here, they thought I was him. I've been using his name."


	4. Who is the Author?

**Who is the Author?**

There was silence while the surprise of Stanley's announcement sunk in.

"So..." said Dipper. "You're not the caregiver our folks expected. That explains a few things. Does that mean we're, like... kidnapped?"

"Don't be silly," said Stan. "Nothing has changed. I'm still your Grunkle, taking care of you for the summer. I'm holding my brother's place and taking on his responsibilities."

"You're a good Grunkle Stan, even though you're not that Grunkle Stan," said Mabel, giving him a hug. "We love you and you love us."

"Yeah," said Stan. "But if you tell your parents about this, they'll pull you back home right away. I might have to go on the run. Then your other Grunkle will never be found."

"I agree not to tell," said Mabel. "I'm having a super-duper exciting summer here."

"I'll go along with it, too," said Dipper. "I don't want to be pulled back before we solve more of the mysteries of Gravity Falls."

"Hold on, kid," said Stan. "It's dangerous to go poking around here. Maybe I can help answer some things for you instead."

"Are you the author of the Journals, or is your brother?" asked Dipper.

"Hah! Neither of us is smart enough for that. The guy was a genius," said Stan.

"Was? He's dead?" asked Mabel.

"He's pretty much lost his mind," said Stan.

"Old Man McGucket?" Dipper guessed.

"Nope," said Stan. "Fiddleford McGucket was involved, but he wasn't the Author."

"Who was it?" asked Dipper.

"First I want the Journal you've got, Journal 2," said Stan.

Dipper said, "I'd like to look at all three."

"I'll let you borrow them one at a time," said Stan. "Just to know about things around here and protect yourself, not to investigate and get into trouble."

"Deal," said Dipper, but he was crossing his fingers behind his back.

"We've got to keep working on getting the Shack open for business," said Stan. "Grand re-opening and karaoke party tomorrow night."

* * *

It was frustrating to wait, but Stan insisted on a full day of work before talking further. There was repairing, cleaning, and scrubbing ("to get the Gideon smell out," Stan said).

At the end of the day, Dipper brought the Journal to Stan.

"After all these years, I.. I mean we... finally have them all," said Stan.

He took them down to the portal room again.

"When I open them to these three pictures, they fit together and show the complete code for starting the Portal."

"Will it find the other Grunkle Stan right away?" asked Mabel.

"It's not that simple. There are billions of other universes. There's a computer scanner on this baby that will match up measurements taken at the place the last portal was opened, the world where Stanford disappeared, to where the portal is pointing to. When I get a good enough match I'll check it out."

"That could take a long time," said Dipper.

"That's why I'm always short of money. I have to stockpile mineral oil for fuel," said Stan.

"Too bad," said Mabel."I was thinking we could blackmail you into ordering pizza for us once a week."

"No blackmail," said Stan. "This is a serious rescue mission."

"How do you know he's still alive?" asked Dipper.

"I don't, but he's the same age as me," said Stan. "As long as there's a chance, I have to try. If I find his remains then at least I'll know."

"You're twins?" asked Mabel. "And you stand up for your twin, just like me and Dipper. Good for you!"

"Are you going to start it now?" asked Dipper.

"I'll wait until the middle of the night, when most folks are asleep," said Stan. "The last time the portal was opened there was a bright flash of light. They waited until the Fourth of July so it would seem like another firework."

"You have to tell us more about the Author now," said Dipper.

"All right," said Stan. "I was living here in Gravity Falls with my brother, recovering from a jail term in Columbia. We had built a small log cabin, not exactly on this site, but close. One day there was a knock at the door."

"Knock knock. Who's there?" said Mabel.

"It was McGucket, back when he was a techie with his own startup company," said Stan.

"I thought you said he wasn't the Author," said Dipper.

"He wasn't," said Stan. "Stop interrupting, both of you, and let me tell the story. Anyway, a visiting researcher had hired McGucket to build a super-sensitive detector to trace strange energy patterns that interfered with his short-wave radio. They traced the signal to this property. They asked our permission to excavate, and we agreed in exchange for a chance to be involved in the project."

"But who was the researcher?" asked Dipper.

"He was a young man then, in his mid-twenties, but brilliant. He had traveled all over the world digging into strange places."

"Did he have six fingers on his hands?" asked Dipper.

"Yes," said Stan. "In one of the places he poked in Europe, he disturbed a creature with a rainbow tail. It cursed him, and an extra finger grew on each hand. He was ashamed of it and always wore gloves."

"Was he really nerdy?" asked Mabel.

"He was big and brawny, able to handle himself in the woods, which saved his life more than once," said Stan. "But he was nerdy in one way: he was terribly shy about talking to women. That all changed later."

"But who was it?" Dipper asked in frustration.

"He and I have parted ways," said Stan. "But I still want to help his family. That's why I gave his daughter a job, even though she's not a good worker."

"Wendy?" asked Mabel.

"But that means the Author is... Manly Dan?" asked Dipper.

"Daniel Corderoy, he was called back then," said Stan.


	5. Dark Memories

**Dark Memories**

While they were down on the Portal level, Dipper opened Journal 2 to the page with the ring around Bill Cipher.

"What do you know about this, Grunkle Stan?" asked Dipper.

"Not much," said Stan. "I'll tell you what I know."

* * *

FLASHBACK

"Look at this, Stanley! I marked this picture in Daniel's Journal 2. Those glasses look just like mine!" said Stanford.

"Huh, I dunno," Stanley said. "Let's ask him. That triangle thing looks weird, all right."

"Hey Daniel, come over here a minute," said Stanford. "What's this picture?"

"I made that years ago. That peculiar triangular creature appeared in my dreams for a few weeks, and a glowing ring of symbols appeared around him. I memorized it and drew it. That's all."

"Those glasses look a lot like mine," said Stanford.

"I'm sure it's a coincidence. There are only so many ways to draw a pair of glasses," said Daniel.

* * *

"But now look at the pictures I marked, Grunkle Stan. It can't be a coincidence. These symbols are on things around here, on things people wear mostly. The symbol on your fez, the pine tree on my hat, the shooting star from one of Mabel's sweaters, the question mark on Soos' shirt, the heart on Robbie's hoodie, and the eye in a pentagram from Gideon's cape," said Dipper.

"That's weird, all right," said Mabel. "And that llama is like one on another of my sweaters, but it faces the other way and it isn't smiling."

"Some of the others I've seen around on things: the six-fingered hand from the Journals, and the brand of ice bags we use," said Dipper.

"So what does it mean?" asked Stan.

"It's like a sticker collection, one symbol per person," said Mabel.

"I think you've got it, Mabel," said Dipper. "When we were in the Dreamscape we saw that triangle guy, Bill Cipher. He called us by symbols: Shooting Star for you, Pine Tree for me, and Question Mark for Soos."

"Dreamscape?" asked Stan.

"Gideon sent Bill into your mind to get the combination to your safe," said Dipper.

"Before he gave up on that idea and blew open the safe instead, blammo!" said Mabel.

"We went into your dreams after him, and that's when he talked to us," said Dipper.

"You went into my dreams? You shouldn't ought to have done that," said Stan. "You might have seen private, embarrassing stuff."

"We did," said Mabel with a giggle. "Sorry about that."

"That part worked out all right," said Dipper. "I was feeling kind of alienated from you, but after that I felt a lot closer."

"Huh," said Stan. "That's good, I guess."

"Anyway, Bill said one thing I remember: 'A darkness approaches. A day will come in the future when everything you care about will change! Until then I'll be watching you!'. When he said that, he showed a ring just like this one, glowing around him, right before he vanished. And now it looks like he can see into the future for real..." said Dipper.

"How do you figure that?" said Stan.

"He showed that ring to Dan Corduroy in a dream years ago, with all those symbols that have only been around lately. Like my hat: I got it not long ago to replace one I lost. So we're all caught up in some sort of prophecy or scheme for the future by this monster. It doesn't sound like a nice one."

"One thing's a good sign," said Stan. "The glasses are on there, my brother's glasses. If each of these is a person in the future, that means Stanford is still alive, and we can bring him back!"

"Good, let's get our other Grunkle!" said Mabel.

"You need to tell us more about how he got lost," said Dipper. "And about who was around when it happened."

"All right," said Stan. "First I'd better tell you about Ivan."

* * *

FLASHBACK

"This is Ivan Blotts," said Fiddlefod McGucket. "He's volunteered to be our dimensional probe man."

The bald man with a tattooed head came up and shook the hands of Stanford, Daniel, and Stanley.

"How do you do?" said Ivan with an English accent.

"What are your qualifications for this job?" asked Daniel.

"I'm willing to do anything," said Ivan. "I once had my head shaved and tattooed to be a model for a teacher of phrenology, the study of parts of the mind by examining the bumps on the head."

"Does that work?" asked Stanley.

"As far as I can tell, it's a complete fraud," said Ivan. "It predicted I have great talent as a leader, can you imagine? I've gone on from job to job. Most recently I've been a traveling banjo minstrel, which is fun but doesn't pay well. When I saw your ad in the paper for dangerous high-paid work, Mr. McGucket, I jumped at the chance."

"It's no joke that it's extremely dangerous," said McGucket. "We're about to open a portal to another dimension. When it opens, Mr. Corduroy here will throw you through with a rope tied around you. One of the Pines brothers will hold the other end of the rope. After a few seconds to look around, we'll pull you back. If you're still alive, that is."

"I'm willing," said Ivan. "Danger means nothing to me."

"I just came here with you to introduce you to the others," said McGucket. "I'm quitting the project."

"What?" said Daniel. "Now, when we're so close?"

"It's too dangerous," said McGucket, "Who knows what we could unleash? Yesterday, when I was checking the settings, the Portal sparked for an instant and I caught a glimpse of a creature of unimaginable horror. I wish I could unsee what I saw."

"It was probably your imagination from over-work," suggested Stanford. "A nightmare when you dozed off."

"I know what I saw," said McGucket. "Speaking of nightmares, I don't think you should trust that creature in your dreams, Daniel. Something tells me we shouldn't tune the Portal the way it told you."

"But... Bill is the astral representative of the alien civilization that sent the crashed inter-dimensional space probe we found buried deep under the ground here," said Daniel. "The benefits to humanity of contacting them... the robots you've been able to build, the inventions Stanford and Stanley have made, just from the bits of technology we've been able to reverse-engineer, the Portal itself... it's all a drop in the bucket compared to first contact with an entire advanced alien civilization!"

"I know that's what you think, but it's too much risk for me. I quit," said McGucket. "You can keep my laptop with my project notes. The password is my middle name: Hadron."

* * *

"So, that's what the Portal project was all about," said Dipper.

"Yeah," said Stan. "Then something went horribly wrong, and Stanford was lost."

"Were you there when it happened?" asked Mabel.

"I was upstairs on the ground floor, on guard to turn away curiosity seekers who might be attracted by the bright flash of light when the Portal opened. Like I told you, we timed it for the night of the fourth of July so we'd have the cover of fireworks. July 4, 1982. My brother marked it in the calendar in his room."

"The secret hidden room," said Dipper.

"I sealed it up after that night," said Stan.

* * *

FLASHBACK

Stan was in the living room when Daniel and Ivan came rushing out of the basement. Each of them had a Journal under his arm. Ivan's right eye was bleeding.

"It's all gone wrong!" Daniel shouted. "I've shut the Portal down."

"What happened to Stanford?" Stanley asked.

"Lost in the Portal," said Ivan. "He sacrificed himself to save me."

"You've got to open the Portal back up and get him back!" Stanley said.

"No!" said Daniel. "It's too dangerous. We're taking the Journals so it can't be opened again."

Stanley came at Daniel to try to grab one of the Journals, but the strong young man shoved him back. Stanley fell back and hit his head on the wall, and he was stunned for few minutes.

When he came to himself, the two were gone. He rushed down the stairs to the elevator and went down to the Portal level.

There were signs of a struggle. Under an overturned chair, he found Journal 1. Near the Portal, he found his brother's glasses.

"Stanford!" he called.

The room was silent. The Portal was shut down. Without the codes in the missing Journals, he might never be able to activate it again.

* * *

"And that's how it's been for the last thirty years," said Stan. "Looking for the lost Journals, and entering codes by trial and error. There were millions of possible combinations. But now..."

"Now you finally have all the Journals," said Dipper. "You can open the Portal again. But should you?"

"I'm going to," said Stan. "Whether I should or not."

* * *

**Author's note: Thanks to Lil ol Gravity Falls, OMAC001, SophiaCrutchfeild, rbvictor, CosmoFan47, supersexyghotmew95, valusuperchic, Zeditha, and LittleMissFangirl12 for the reviews and encouragement! **


	6. Scary-Oke Party

**Scary-Oke Party**

That night, Stan fired up the Portal. Dipper and Mabel were not allowed down there when he did it, because of the danger, but they stayed up to see the light. It was intense blue-white and lit up everything for miles.

In the morning, Mabel went through her sweater supply (which she stored in the big coffin in the curtained-off storage space of their attic bedroom).

"I found it!" Mabel called to Dipper. "I'm going to throw it out right now."

"What are you talking about?" asked Dipper.

"The llama sweater. Now that I've seen it's a symbol in Bill's creepy ring, I don't want it any more."

"I'm not sure that will help," said Dipper. "Somehow the reverse of that llama is going to end up associated with a person. Maybe we can pick someone that can help us."

"Who?" asked Mabel.

"Grenda, maybe," said Dipper. "She's strong."

"I'm not going to put that kind of curse on a friend," said Mabel. "I could give it to Pacifica."

"She wouldn't take it," said Dipper. "You know how she is about animals on sweaters."

"Ugh, I sure do," said Mabel.

"There's another possibility I found in Journal 2. It talks about how to make magical mirror clones if you have a sample of someone's hair and a mirror they looked into. When did you last wear that llama sweater?"

"When I went over to Gideon's house for a makeover, and... yikes! I did look in his mirrors, and he could have gotten a sample of my hair from a brush," said Mabel.

"That's what I thought," said Dipper. "Gideon could have made a mirror clone of you."

"Even Gideon wouldn't do something that creepy," said Mabel.

"A guy's obsessed with you, and he had the chance to make a copy that looked like you but that was subject to his will?" said Dipper. "A lot of guys would."

"You wouldn't do that... not even of Wendy," said Mabel.

"It would be tempting, but no," said Dipper. "But I'm not like Gideon. I have a conscience."

"So I just have to hope there isn't an evil mirror copy of me running around... Blargh!"

"I hope not, too," said Dipper. "One of you is enough."

"I'm throwing out the sweater anyway, just in case."

* * *

The Mystery Shack was officially open for business again, and it was packed. Everyone wanted to show their support for Stan by buying something, it seemed.

Stan stood on the counter with Dipper and Mabel beside him, and called to the crowd.

"Welcome, to the grand re-opening of the Mystery Shack! We're here to celebrate we defeated that skunk Lil Gideon!"

He showed a Li'l Gideon doll to the audience and everyone booed.

"Please, please. Boo harder!" said Stan. "But I didn't catch that pork chop all alone. These two scamps deserve SOME of the glory."

Mabel elbowed Stan, and he said, "Okay, okay. Most of the glory."

They got a fake picture taken by Toby Determined, and a real one taken by Shandra Jimenez.

"And don't forget to go to the after-party tonight at eight," said Stan, showing a poster.

"We're doing a karaoke bonanza, people! Lights! Music! Enchantment!" said Mabel.

She blew a handful of confetti and showed everyone a hand-drawn poster.

"And an amazing karaoke performance by our family band, 'Love Patrol Alpha'!"

"I don't know about that," said Dipper.

"I never agreed to that ever," said Stan.

"Too late!" said Mabel. "I wrote your names on the list! It's happening!"

Wendy blew an air horn. "Buy your ticket people! You know you don't have anything going on in your lives! I'm talking to you, Pizza Guy! Don't lame out on me!"

When all the tourists were outside, Stan said, "The town loves us, we finally got that Gideon smell out of the carpet. And the Portal is open again. Everything is finally going my way. "

Dipper asked, "Grunkle Stan, may I have one of the Journals back to study during the day? You promised I could."

"Oh yeah, sure," said Stan. "I made copies of the pages I need for the Portal codes, anyway. Here, take Journal 3 for today."

* * *

Upstairs in their room, Dipper said, "Mabel, we've got to talk. We're halfway through the summer, and we still have barely begun to solve the big mysteries of Gravity Falls. We have all three Journals, and we know who the Author is, but what was Bill talking about when he said 'everything is going to change'? There's something HUGE going on right under our noses. And it's time we stop goofing around and get to the bottom of it."

"Don't worry, Dipper!" said Mabel, holding up Waddles. "Lord Mystery Ham is on the case! 'I play by me own rules! Wot? Wot?'"

"I don't know why I tell you things," said Dipper. "Do you hear that?"

There was the sound of a large car pulling up outside. They looked out the window and saw it was a black, official-looking vehicle.

Downstairs, Grunkle Stan looked worried. He had shooed everyone out of the Mystery Shack.

"Grunkle Stan, what's happening? " asked Mabel.

"Yeah, you never shut down the gift shop," said Dipper.

"Just play it cool and let me do the talking," said Stan.

Stan went to the door to meet the government men. "Welcome to the Mystery Shack, gentlemen! What can I get you? Key chains? Snow globes? These rare photos of American presidents?"

The two government agents showed their badges.

"My name is Agent Powers and this is Agent Trigger, we're here to investigate reports of mysterious activity in this town." said the first agent.

"Activity!" echoed the second agent.

"Mysterious activity? In the Mystery Shack? You gotta be joking!" said Stan.

Agent Powers said, "I assure you I'm not. I was born with a rare disorder that made me physically incapable of experiencing humor."

Stan laughed nervously.

"I don't understand that sound you're making with your mouth," said Powers. "Now if you'll excuse us we are conducting an investigation."

"Investigation!" echoed Trigger, poking Stan as the two agents pushed their way inside.

Much as Dipper wished he could talk freely to the agents, he knew that if they looked into things too deeply they would discover Grunkle Stan's real identity and then he and Mabel would be sent home before they could solve the mysteries. He decided to lie.

"My Grunkle Stan is right," said Dipper. "There's absolutely nothing mysterious going on around here."

The two agents focused on him with instant suspicion.

"If you know something, it's your duty to tell us," said Powers, leaning in close to Dipper.

"Duty!" said Trigger, giving him a hard stare.

"Really, theres nothing," said Dipper.

"I see that you can't speak freely in front of people here. Take this card," said Powers, handing Dipper a card with his phone number on it. "Look. Between you and me I believe there is an conspiracy of paranormal origin all connected to this town. We're just one lead away from blowing the lid of this entire mystery."

"I-I'll call you if I think of something," said Dipper.

"We have other spots to investigate. We'll be on our way," said Powers. "But I expect to hear from you soon, son, or we'll be back to take you into protective custody."

Trigger picked up a bunch of Stan bobble-heads. "I'm confiscating these for evidence."

"Smart move," said Powers, as they left.

When they were gone, Stan growled, "You blew it, kid. I told you to let me do the talking. You're not an experienced liar, like I am."

"Right," said Mabel. "You should leave the conning to the con men."

"What can I do now?" asked Dipper.

"Tell some of the truth," said Stan. "You'll be so unconvincing that they'll leave you alone."

"So, maybe I should show them Journal 3 and tell them I believe everything in it?" asked Dipper.

"That should do it," said Stan.

* * *

That evening, while the karaoke party was going on, Dipper called the number on the card and agreed to meet the agents in the woods.

"Guys, I'm so glad to see you," said Dipper. "Working together we can crack the all of the big questions of Gravity Falls! Trust me, this book is the lead you've been looking for."

He handed them Journal 3, and they started leafing through it.

Powers said, "Kid, I'd love to believe you, but this just looks like more junk from your uncle's gift shop. I mean, Leprecorn? I can't be the only one who thinks that's not funny."

"I can confirm," said Trigger. "Not funny."

Still trying his best to be sincere but unconvincing, Dipper said, "No, no! It's real, I swear. I never saw that Leprecorn creature myself, but if it's in the book it has to be real. It's all true, even the spells."

"Kid, you have an overactive imagination," said Powers. "I'll do you a favor and prove it to you. For example, here's a supposed spell for raising zombies. You seriously expect me to believe that just reciting 'Corpus Levitus Diablo Dominus Mondo Vicium' will make zombies appear?"

The wind rose, the ground shook, and the earth cracked open to reveal an evil green light. From the cracks a horde of zombies began to creep out.

"Umm, yeah, I guess I do," said Dipper. "You guys can help, right!?"

"Kid, we've been chasing the paranormal for years now but we have never seen anything like this before!" said Powers.

The zombies grabbed the agents and dragged them into the forest. Dipper ran.

* * *

When it was all over, they had discovered the secret writing in Journal 3 that only showed up in black light, and that the secret of defeating the zombies was a perfect three-part harmony.

"I'm sorry about this, guys. I totally ruined everything," Dipper said.

"Dipper, are you kidding me? I got to sing karaoke with my two favorite people in the world! No party could ever top that," said Mabel.

"Kids, listen. This town is crazy. So you need to be careful. I don't know what I'd do with myself if you got hurt on my watch. I'll let you hold on to these spooky journals, as long as you promise me you'll only use them for self-defense, and not go looking for trouble," said Stan.

"Okay, as long as you promise me that you don't have any other bombshell secrets," said Dipper.

Both promised, crossing their fingers behind their backs.

"Man, we have got a lot of zombie damage to clean up. Where's my handyman anyway?" said Stan.

"Brains, brains!" called Soos from the other room.

"Holy Moses!" said Stan, getting ready to fight Soos.

"Wait! There's a page in here about curing zombification. It's gonna take a lot of formaldehyde," said Dipper.

"Ooh, and cinnamon!" said Mabel.

"I wonder if the other two journals have any black-light writing," Dipper said as they pushed Soos from the room with a chair.

When he checked later, he found the author had only used it in the last Journal. But it was still a whole new chapter of mysteries to explore.


	7. Night Visit to the Bunker

**Night Visit to the Bunker**

_Note: contains some spoilers for "Not What He Seems" and "A Tale of Two Stans."  
_

The Mystery Shack was going to be closed for extensive repairs for a couple of days after the zombie attack. Dipper went over to Wendy's house to watch a marathon of bad movies. Mabel visited Grenda at her home, along with Candy, to shudder and giggle together over their narrow escape.

"Soos, today we do internal repairs," said Stan. "Tomorrow I've scheduled a big work crew to clean up the outside."

"Yes sir, Mr. Pines," said Soos.

"You need to put the electrical system back in order first," said Stan. "You helped the zombies break it while you were one of them."

"Oh yeah, I remember that," said Soos. "Sorry about that. It was weird being a zombie."

"Don't remind me of last night," said Stan. "That was disgusting. Though it was enjoyable making their heads explode by singing."

"All we wanted to do was eat your brains," said Soos. "We weren't unreasonable. Nobody was going to eat your eyes."

* * *

That night, after the kids were asleep, Stan got out the pages he had copied from Journal 3. Now that he knew about the secret of the black light writing, he wanted to know more. Ordinary copies wouldn't have reproduced the invisible ink effects. But this was no ordinary copier: it was actually a duplicator. Copied three-dimensional objects became solid, and copied flat objects had all the properties of the original.

On the page marked "Hiding Spot?" he found the message: "DANGER! LAST RESORT. PREPARE FOR THE END." There was a diagram of a stairway leading down below a tree.

Tonight, now that the twins were asleep, it was time to check out this secret that his brother had hidden even from him

Stan felt a twinge of guilt that he had promised Dipper there were no more secrets, when in fact he had kept back several things in the simplified story he told. He said that Manly Dan was the Author, not his brother Stanford.

Manly Dan had once been an assistant to his brother, as had a one-eyed man named Ivan. They were replacements after Fiddleford McGucket saw something beyond the Portal that he wanted to forget, and quit the project. That was all recorded in Journal 1, but the reason that they, too, had left the project.

There was something shameful about the story that Stanley didn't want to reveal until he had a chance to set it right, the fact that Stanford had been alone on the night when Stanley visited, and that it was a struggle with Stanley himself that had resulted in his brother going into the Portal.

Once he recovered his brother (if he was alive), then Stan would have to own up to the truth. Dipper and Mabel would be angry about the lies, but he had to keep things going as they were for a while, and not risk the kid's rejection just yet.

Now Stan knew that Stanford had written in Journal 3 with invisible ink, and in his paranoia he had told Stanley nothing about it. The "bunker" was his secret hiding place. Stan just had to see what was there.

The secret writing in Journal 3 showed the hiding place could be found in fake tree with a panel in it. Stan had worked out when and where Dipper had found the journal. It had to be the day the boy went out to put up signs in a spooky part of the woods. Looking back, the kid had acted guilty when he was caught reading something later that day, and it wasn't the "Gold Chains for Old Men" magazine as Dipper had pretended.

Taking a flashlight, Stan walked out into the woods and soon found the tree with a panel in the side. But how to open the secret stairway?

"Stan, use your cat burglar skills. Stanford meant to keep everyone, including me, out of here. He knows my weaknesses... I used to be afraid of heights until Mabel helped me get over it. So, look up."

He shined his flashlight up the trunk of the tree and found a fake branch that looked like a lever. Good, but how to work it? He tried climbing the tree, but the trunk was too smooth. Stanford must have used Daniel's strong woodsman-skilled body to get up there.

Stan ran back to the Shack for his spare grappling hook (Mabel hadn't take the only one). He fired at the branch and knocked the lever upward. With a rumble of gears the tree slid down into the ground and spiral stairs popped out of the side, leading down.

"Bingo! You've still got it, Stan!" he said to himself.

There was a good chance of traps, but knowing his brother there would be a simple key to disarm them. Stan flipped through the pages he had copied and found page labeled "Security Room" with cryptic symbols in hexagons. The portable black light he had with him revealed a set of four symbols, numbered in sequence. That might come in handy.

At the bottom he found a fallout shelter, stocked with a supply of canned beans for years to come.

"Heh, time for a midnight snack," said Stan.

Stan opened a can of Baron Num Num's High Flyin' Beans and ate it.

"Pretty good," he said to himself. "I could bring my Brown Meat down here too, and the kids and me will have a good chance of riding out the Apocalypse."

The Apocalypse was another little detail he hadn't told Dipper and Mabel about. They would have to know, but later.

He stuck another can of Baron Num Num's into his pocket for later and kept searching around. A cabinet of weapons, that was good. He left the outdated SMEZ dispenser alone.

Then he saw an old map of Gravity Falls taped to the wall. It was bulging out from the wall slightly, like there was something concealed behind it. He pulled it down and found a hatch leading to a cylindrical passage.

"All right, now for the real secrets," Stan told himself.

He crawled down the passage and found a room with symbols all over the walls. All right, this was the Security Room, no doubt. He refreshed his memory about the sequence of symbols, and went in. He easily avoided the pressure sensor square on the floor, but when he tried to open the door on the far side of the room the trap went off anyway. The other door slammed shut and locked, and the wall cubes began to close in. Stan pressed the right buttons to open the door, and got out easily before the walls could crush him.

"You'll have to do better than that, Stanford," said Stan to his absent brother.

The new room had control panels and a view screen into another room with a set of tubes. Something was frozen inside one of them. Notes on the table said it was a shape-shifter that could look like anyone.

He toggled the switch back and forth, leaving it in the thaw position so he could get a better look at the frozen specimen.

Stan was familiar with the sort of labs his brother set up, and he knew the only way into the next room would be through a decontamination lock. He found it and worked the shower easily.

There was a person inside the tube, and it looked like Stanford, but as he was thirty years ago.

"Let me out!" the person said. "I'm Stan Pines, and I got stuck in here accidentally."

"Nice try, shape-shifter," said Stan. "But Stanford doesn't look like that any more. My brother hasn't been himself in thirty years."

The Shape-Shifter morphed into its true form. "Let me out, or I'll break out and kill you!"

"I think not, ugly," said Stan.

"It is you who are ugly to me, single-formed one," said the monster.

The creature tried several forms, including a flaming one, but nothing seemed to be getting it out of the cylinder.

"I will read your future," said the Shape-Shifter. "You think you are on the verge of success, but it will be the biggest mistake of your life, and the final shape you take will be..."

"I don't want to see it!" said Stan, backing away.

As he did, his extra can of Baron Num Num's High Flyin' Beans came loose from his pocket and rolled on the floor. Stan ran back to the exit portal without bothering to pick it up.

He got back through the lock and activated the tube's freezing control again. The monster froze in place looking like Stan with a horrified expression, but Stan kept his eyes turned away.

Stan got out as quickly as he could. He didn't anyone else know of this place, but just in case he taped the map back over the entrance to the secret tunnel. However, he failed to pick up the empty can of beans.

"Well, now I know what's down here," Stan said to himself. "It doesn't hurt to have an extra hiding place up my sleeve."

* * *

The Shape-Shifter laughed to itself. The damage it had done to the tube during the few minutes of free motion had been effective. There was a tiny crack at the bottom of the tube and the freezing solution had leaked out. Now it could work on breaking out completely.

The next person to come down here would be in for a surprise. But the human forms he had memorized were no good. Stanford and his brother were known, no good for an ambush. What else was available to lure a victim close? The Shape-Shifter's eyes fell on the mascot picture on the can of beans. That would do very nicely...


End file.
